Haar, Germany to cooperate with neighboring cities for geothermal heating

Panorama over Munich (source: flickr/ DAVID HOLT, creative commons)

The municipality of Haar in Eastern Munich, Germany has expressed interest in getting involved with the geothermal projects of their neighboring municipalities.

Mayor Andreas Bukowski proposed two possible scenarios – cooperating with AFK Geothermie GmbH, the company operated by the municipalities of Aschheim, Kirchheim, and Feldkirchen; or to cooperating with Vaterstetten.

Both Vaterstetten and Haar have histories of interest in developing geothermal heating projects. However, both municipalities also cancelled these plans due to high investment costs. Vatestetten has now turned around on this decision and has received a permit for “large-scale exploration for geothermal energy” from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in February 2022.

Mayor Bukowski said that talks will take place with Vaterstetten about geothermal energy. However, he also said that investment costs will be enormous and that a possible geothermal project will not be a short-terms solution.

We recently reported on the plan of the municipalities of Kirchheim, Aschheim, and Feldkirchen to expand the joint geothermal heating network under AFK GmbH. The goal is to make geothermal heat available to all households in the municipalities, thereby promoting energy independence of the region.

Source: Suddeutsche Zeitung